After filling up their water stores, and with the advice from the major hiding and or disguising them, Lunix and San'dara followed the major and his men to their mounts. Lunix could guess why the men didn't stay near the beasts if they could help it, they had a most pungent smell, possibly worse then a taun-taun. Everyone made a final check then mounted up and their trip began.

The first day went well, sticking to the well used roads they drew attention from passerby's but nothing ever came from it. They made camp at the same spot every other traveling caravan during the day decided to. Safety in numbers after all, Lunix could easily tell everyone was armed and camps were set up with other camps in mind to form a fairly tight defensive formation. Chester actually was making an attempt to "pickup" on San'dara when the Sergent grabbed him and pulled him away, saying something about a customs and perimeter check. Chester moaned a little but grabbed his weapon all the same and followed the Sergent. That left the Major and Jebb to set up their shelter and help the girls with camp.

"So... What did he mean by a customs check?" San asked while she started on a fire. The Major, finishing up on staking down the shelter, looked back to her then returned to his work. "Normally its just to show the civies we care and are around. That lets them know they are protected, that we look out for them." Jebb came around from the other side of the shelter interrupting, "As we should. Though I wish we did it more often." The Major gave Jebb the 'Shut it' look then, finished with his part of the shelter turned to help San. "What he means is, we don't have the man power to always be out here. He understands this but due to certain past events Jebb just can't seem to accept it." Jebb stood up in anger. "It isn't like it was some past inconvenience Major! My family is..." The Major stood up and got in Jebb's face, "Stand down! I said it like that because I didn't think you wanted it talked about!" The Major took a breath and lowered his voice. "I meant no disrespect." Jebb's anger seemed to just fall away as he took a step back and nodded. "Then none taken sir, I'm sorry." The major turned and sat back down, "We are all sorry for what happened..."

After a moment of silence it was Jebb who broke it, "Anyway... It also allows us to catch smugglers or any criminals on the run. We check their carriages... the people... I'm sure it seems like we are just ran sacking and bullying to you... But it just how we have to do things here. Some of us can be rougher then others, we have had military members who abuse the Customs check, but they are the few and are taken cared of quickly enough." The Major then cut in, Tonight it will help us find out if we are being followed or if the Valley's criminals has eyes on us yet." Jebb snorted in disgust. "Bet they had eyes on us the moment you two landed." He motioned to the girls. "Now Now, that's hardly their fault... After all they didn't know what to expect from this world..." All four of them turn to see a rather large man, one who's both arms had been replaced with cybernetic ones, powerful looking but also looked like they were made from parts from a junk yard.

Both the Major and Jebb drew their weapons, quickly followed by Lunix and San. "Ha! Put those down, if I wanted to kill you all I would have already." Three more cybernetic enhanced men came up, two of which hand the Sergent and Chester. Both were tossed in with the others, with the weapons and unharmed except maybe their egos." At this the Major lowered his weapon but still kept it in hand. Not wanting to make a scene Lunix, San and Jebb did the same.

The Major stood up, "What are you doing here Ringo?" At the moment of the Major's movement Ringo's three men raised there own weapons, some popping out of their cybernetics. The Major raised his own weapon, as did his men and the girls. Ringo laughed and motioned for his men to lower their weapons. "I was called by a source, told that space born had come looking to find a old friend. What he failed to mention was that the ship you girls came on had auto guns and a pack of deadheads protecting it! Lost two f my best men..." The Major took a small step to place himself between Ringo and the girls, "So your here for revenge?" Ringo raised a brow then laughed again. Not at all, not the girls fault after all, they have the right to protect what i theirs. The source on the other hand should have done more home work before calling us." Ringo pulled a sack out from behind him and tossed in on the ground. Ted's head, the male who kept 'clinging' to the girls when they first landed, rolled out.

Both the girls didn't so much as flinch from the grisly sight, in fact the looks on their faces seemed to startle Ringo and even caused Ringo's men to take a step back. "Damn... You girls might just be more cold hearted then me with those looks..." The Major had to fight the urge to turn around to see what Ringo was talking about. Instead he then asked, "If your not here for the girls..." Ringo shook his head and turned his attention back to the Major. " But I am here about the girls. While we aren't able to get a hold off some space born technology, I'm here to make sure the military doesn't too. But seeing how me and my men are out numbered and likely out classed I figured I simply come over and ask."

Lunix stood up and stepped next to the Major, enough so that he could see the look she had given Ringo, and it sent chills down his back. "We have promised nor offered anything for Beth's or the military's help with our search. In fact it would seem they rather get this over with quickly so they can be rid of us." Ringo studied her face for a moment, there was no signals of a lie there, and what she said made a lot of sense. "Alright then..." Ringo snapped his metallic fingers and one off his men came up and picked up Ted's head, putting it back in the sack then retreating back with the others. "Be sure to keep it like that, or we will be back..."

"No you won't..." Lunix said under her breath, turning away and getting to work on dinner. The Major knew what she meant, she knew he and his men would be taking care of Ringo and his men tonight. At least he thought that is what she thought. But then he remembered the girls had a droid with them and he hasn't seen it for a long while now. He turned to ask Lunix where it was but before he could the sound of shouting and weapons fire made him turn back to where Ringo and his men went. There he saw the black silhouette of the nine foot tall droid in the middle of Ringo and his crew and they didn't stand a chance. The junky looking cybernetics allowed them to last a little longer then they other wise would have, but the end result was the same. Mangled corpses.

"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity

"Good God!" Jebb cried out in surprise at the attack. It wasn't in disgust though, He had a smile ear to ear. "You girls sure you can't maybe led one off those...?" The Major, who also had a smile, stepped up next to him and patted him on the back. "You know they can't, not after making that declaration. Ringo and his men aren't the only ones here... You have to know that. The others will report that we aren't getting any off-world tech. They will keep an eye on us to be sure but likely they won't mess with us much from now on." Both of the mens faces lit up from the light of the droid's flamethrower sweeping over the corpses of Ringo and his men. Lunix came up to the Major, then looked at Jebb. "I need a moment." The Major waved Jebb off, who did so with no questions, None he voiced anyway.

The Major and Lunix watched Jebb till he was out of ear shot then they turned to each other. "We might have a problem." Lunix explained. "The man we are looking for, we told you who he was and what he looked like. But not why we are looking for him, or what he does." Lunix sat down, followed by the Major, then she placed a sound dampening device between them. No one would be able to hear them. The Major looked at the device with slight confusion. Lunix shook her head to reassure him. "It will keep anyone from hearing us." He nodded, "So then... Has the mission gone so far south that I'm on the need to know list?" Lunix nodded, which made the Major frown. He was actually kidding when he said that, he thought that even with Ringo's death the mission was going as expected, which was 'WELL' in his book. "What is it then?" Lunix brought up scans of Ringo's cybernetics as well as some from his men. "I know you may not know what all this means..." She showed him the scans. "I just want you to know that I'm not just making up anything I'm about to tell you."

She explained that Kieth, the friend they were looking for, was a Cybernetics Doctor. A very good one from what she was told. This alone gave the Major cause for concern. But the next part nearly had him enraged. Lunix explained that while the cybernetics on Ringo and his men look like junk, the core technology inside them was from off world. Not a lot, just enough to make the "junk" work right. Tech that only he would know how to work into those cybernetics.

"So what your saying is these new weapons they have started to build up on is a product of this man?! I'm not so sure I can allow you to take him off world after hearing this... He must pay for his crimes!" Lunix sighed, "But what if he is working for them under duress?" The Major sat straight in thought. "Then maybe... But I need confirmation on that first..." He leaned forward again. "But damn this just got complicated. Those Cyberjunks are the newest and most lethal weapons the criminal elements have now. I know I said we maintained a balance of sorts on this world but... ever since those came to the field the military has been on the ropes. There has already been whispers going around how they are building a whole army of such... things, And if they are we are done."

Lunix nodded, "Which makes our mission so perfect a reason for you and your men to snoop around in the valley? To see if such whispers are true?" The Major nodded. "Well think of it this way Major... when we accomplish this mission, we will be crippling any cybernetic army they have planned."

"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity

The fleet of the once proud and powerful Airam Clan 'Knights" hung together in deep space. Many out of fuel, all of them damaged to the point where normal operation wasn't an option. Some of the ships had to dock with one another to share resources or share working parts with one another. One vessel's reactor had to be shut down due to a radiation leak, but the ship's atmospheric equipment worked fine. So they linked up with other ships that had working reactors but had failing, damaged or inadequate atmospheric equipment. Thankfully they had plenty or food and water thanks to Providence, but this situation was temporary, or everyone would die when the ships failed altogether.

But things were looking up for these people. Miranda was already out acquiring new ships to house the people in until a more permanent solution was found. A new world, far from prying eyes and would be enemies. One that would suit the needs of Evolve and her Sovereign Forge. But also now serve as a colony for these people and for those in the future that join Slade and Miranda in building something new. An organization devoted to the greater good, to protect the galaxy and maybe change it for the better. At least that was the idea...

Alarms flared to life across the fleet, enemy ships were about to exit hyperspace. Fearful screams and warnings started to spill out from comms across the derelict fleet. The enemy fleet that exited was the new military force of the Airam Clans. The very people that ousted the Knights and tried to wiped them out. They had managed to find the Knights and were more then eager to finish the job.

Miranda had left Moon Shadow and Thunder Child to defend the fleet, but they were out numbered and out gunned. At least that is what the hostile Airam fleet believed. In truth, they were, but Caden's "Vayeate" was mixed in with the fleet. "Tomb", a stealth Harrower, was already moving in to put the enemy fleet into a cross fire, and just as the opening shots were fired, Arron on board the Rothana Battlecruiser "Dominance" Dropped out of hyperspace nearby.

Arron stood on the bridge of Dominance, surprise clearly on her face. "Didn't expect this... Comms, link us up with defending ships." Caden's voice as well as those of the acting commanders of the other ships came calmly though the speakers. "Nice timing Dominance, The Airam Dreadnaughts are all yours, we will focus on defending the civilians..." Arron interrupted him, "I want Tomb, We will force the Airam Dreadnaughts to focus their shields toward us. Tomb can then target the bridges and key systems and disable them. If that doesn't send them running then we will help you wipe them out."

There was a moment of silence then the synthetic voice of the Droid Commander of Tomb acknowledged the plan. Caden too, as did the others. Tie Guards launched from Providence's Destroyers while Dominance's hangers launched a number of clone war era fighters, P1 Z-95s and even FT-9 Lances, the prototypes that Evolve had built for Starlight Star Drives. The mixed crews of Providence, Airam Knight and Droids were more then up for the challenge. Situational awareness was top priority, and any hostile ship that attempted to make a run for the civilian ships was quick to retreat or be destroyed.

Arron's plan had worked, Dominance unleashed everything it had on the Hostile Airam Dreadnaughts, switching between the two randomly. It was a tactic that would ultimately prove useless because the two dreadnaughts, who only were being dealt with by the Dominance, could freely focus their shields against it. Likely the captains of the Dreadnaught thought of the Dominance crew and/or captain a fool. That was the trap Arron wanted them to fall into. Unknowingly Tomb maneuvered itself into the perfect location and when the moment was right, unleashed its own hell on the unprotected sides of the two hostile Airam Dreadnaughts. They never knew what hit them, and within moments both ships were leaderless, disabled and left with out a prayer. A situation the hostile likely thought the Knight's fleet to be in.

The hostile Airam Fleet never would know what happened between the Battlecruiser and their two Dreadnaughts, but they now believed the Dominance to be the biggest threat and turned on it. That was ok to Arron, It gave her the chance to deliver onto them a little payback for what had happened in Airam Space.

Hours later Miranda and Marcus returned on board Silent Reef, followed by a number of other ships. They were surprised to see a number of new wreaks, they meet up with everyone else while the refugees were carefully and quickly moved to the Silent Reef.

"I assume none got away?" Miranda asked as she sat down at the meeting table.

Arron, and Caden were already seated and had been waiting while Miranda and Marcus got the transfer started. "A couble of fighters managed to escape, but it should still take them a while before they can contact Airam Space... If they even make it close enough to contact them..." Caden answered.

"Before you ask we found two moles that were mixed in with the refugees... Or rather the Refugees found them... They were dead before we could get a hold of them." Arron sounded a little to happy about that.

There was a small moment of awkward silence then Miranda spoke up again. "Well we should be able to get out of here before any more search and destroy forces show up. I Assume if there are any hostiles left alive they remain on their ships?"

Caden nodded, "We figured they should have a taste of what these people have been going through for a while."

"Wipe them out."

Even Arron was surprised to hear Miranda issue this order.

"What?"

"No one left here can live to tell what they may be seeing. No one left here can tell anyone else where we went, where we came from or what we have. We can not chance a continued pursuit by these people. Everything we are working on can't be discovered, not now not later, perhaps never. We will cover our tracks even if it means murder."

Arron and Caden looked at each other.

"I don't like it, I'm disgusted with myself about this. But it must be done... Remember this though, This will not become the norm for us, we WILL ensure that this doesn't have to happen again. Do I make my self clear?"

Arron and Caden nodded.

"We won't ask our men to do this either. We will take care of this ourselves." Both Arron and Caden nodded in agreement. "We will rig the refugee ships reactors to meltdown, Much like how Slade rigged the Red Dragon, nothing will survive and our tracks will be covered. Marcus already knows we will be doing this, So lets get it done."

Two days later massive reactor explosions would render what remained of the Knight's fleet and the hostile Airam fleet to little more then scrap. No one would be able to determine what really happened there, but it would be assumed that the hostile Airam fleet sent to destroy the remaining Knights was over zealous and got caught up in the destruction.

"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity

Lunix and the Major looked out over the valley where a faction of the planet's criminal element made it home. There were scattered buildings dotting the land scape, though not as many as there where small camps. There was also a sizable city, two districts on either side of a fortress.

"Shit... When did they finish that?" Chester said crawling up with the rest of the group.

The Major unpacked his spyglass to take a closer look. "Its been a year... Though I doubt anyone could have guessed they would have built all this so soon..." The Major focused in on the towers of the fortress. They bristled with weapon emplacements and guards... He could see guards everywhere, even patrols marching through the streets of the two districts. What really caught hiss attention was that from what he could tell was that everyone, not just the guards, had cybernetics of one form or another.

"Those guards... No... More like troopers... Have much more advanced cybernetics then those thugs we dealt with before." Lunix looked to the Major from her macrobinoculars. "They already have a Cyborg army with a standardized, military form of cybernetics. What are your orders for dealing with something like this?"

Chester turning white from this news pulled out his own spyglass to see for himself what Lunix was talking about. "There ha to be hundreds of them... maybe thousands! Where the hell did they all come from?!"

"If you were some creep who heard about how you can be made stronger, to get whatever you could possibly want... Wouldn't you want to get it?" San asked metaphorically.

"I'm kinda wanting that right now..." Jebb said.

"Enough..." The Sergent said then looked to the Major. "Orders sir?"

"You and Jebb get word to the military, tell them everything we know. Chester and I will remain here and try to gather more information." He turned to the Girls. "I'm sorry, but everything has changed now. Your mission no longer matters to us and your welcome is now officially up. You will return to your ship and leave this planet, failure to comply will result in your termination and impounding of all your possessions." Even though he said that, the Major made no move for his weapons should the girls disapprove, nor did any of the others.

"You know we can't do that Major." Lunix said, she didn't reach for her weapon either. Despite what was being said everyone was very calm.

The Major looked to the Sergent, "Inform them of this as well, but warn them that attempting to take the girl's ship is likely suicide."

"Understood, lets go Jebb."

The two men mounted up and were off. Lunix and the rest watched them go till they were out of sight. She then pulled out a comm unit and tapped on it rhythmically.

"What was that?" The Major asked. Lunix smiled, "Just calling for some help."

"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity

Rebecca and her team had been working non-stop on Slade. Lunix had been very strict on what they were allowed to do, and that was to keep him alive and improve his status without surgery or anything that could be considered a drastic or permanent change to him. It was after all Slade's wish for the best minds he knows to come up with something together to repair him. While Rebecca could understand this, after all some of her greatest breakthroughs were the result of many people working together. But all those people were hand picked by her and on her team for years, she knew them and what they were capable of. While she respected Slade and owed him, she didn't think he was the type of man to have many friends with a intelligence like hers... Still she would honor his request and work with whoever they were looking for on that god forsaken planet.

Their work on Slade had progressed well, his condition has been improved on greatly thanks to injections of a special mix of nutrients they put together that suited him best. Muscle loss do to atrophy was not only stopped but in some cases reversed. What worried Rebecca most was his mind as he seem to drift in and out of consciousness. Scans showed his mind was becoming less active, which wasn't good. Rebecca knew it was due to a lack of stimulation. She would often try talking with him and give him things to do, but with his physical condition, and losing consciousness often it wasn't enough. To fix this Rebecca was working on a virtual reality she could plug Slade's mind into. While this would give his mind the stimulation he needed, it was also dangerous. If the simulation wasn't real enough his mind would reject it which could cause problems, but if it was too real they might not be able to pull him out of the simulation. What would help was if Rebecca could plug someone else in with him. While this came with its own possible issues, they were far less troublesome then just plugging in Slade.

Rebecca was continuing her work on the virtual world when her personal comm went off rhythmically, Lunix was calling for reinforcements. Still Lunix had requested that should she call for help that Rebecca didn't go overboard. She saved her progress and turned to leave walking past Slade. She stopped startled when Slade reached out with his remaining hand and firmly grasped her arm. She looked down at him, his eyes looked lifeless but they stared into her own. "Go... Unseen..." His grip loosened and a pair of aids came to settle him back into his bed. Rebecca wasn't one to get unnerved easily, but this did. How could this man know anything about what is going on in his state and how would he know if she could go unseen or not?

An idea crossed her mind and she smiled down at Slade. She didn't know how he knew but it didn't matter. She might not have thought of that project if he hadn't said anything and would have just gone it beam rifles flaring. Now she got the chance to test out the Cloaks of Invisibility.

"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity

A short time later two Horizon transports left the Alpha Titan, both carrying two modified Vanguards each. The ships would make a short hyper space jump to the arid planet, plow through the upper atmosphere and released the ExoShell entry pods.

Rebecca looked around the cockpit of her Vanguard in near disgust. Despite it being well kept and still being a powerful machine, she felt it was too old and lackluster. But it was the only model that filled the stealth role of ExoShells. The one mission type that pops up often enough that a unit of such capabilities is needed but not often enough for a new machine to be developed for. She brought up its operating system and cringed, it was so basic... She almost started to rewrite the program when she saw the altimeter and sighed. Her pod blew apart reveling the Vanguard in its full glory, though it didn't have its over size flightpack.

Instead it sported a rather standard "jump pack" used by ground ExoShells and a rather extravagant looking cape. Because of the lack of the flight pack Rebecca had to let her unit fall a little further before slowing her decent. When she landed she purposely caused a dust cloud to form around her from her jets and used the cover to activate her cloak. The cape was pulled around the whole Vanguard and an electrical current pulsed through it, activating the micro-crystals the cape was made out of and the Vanguard disappeared except for the head, at least until Rebecca's unit reached up and pulled a hood over the head. The invisible giant then took off at a sprint heading for the meeting area for the other three units.

"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity

It had been two days, but the military had managed to send a number of teams like the Major's. Lunix couldn't help but think that the lack of uniformity between the teams make the military seem as a motley group. The criminals in the fortress seemed more organized and uniform but it was clear there was division between the cyber enhanced and the normals inside. But the military wasn't as bad off as Lunix and San'dara were lead to believe. They got their first look at real vehicles, military ones at that, designed and built here. Rugged, sensible, tracked armored vehicles armed with a number of long to mid ranged weapons. They were kept a few miles out so that their sound and dust trails wouldn't give them away.

"So putting this together put other locations at risk?" Lunix asked referring to everything that was said days ago. The Major, now in command of all the military units in the area, turned to her and with a sigh nodded. "Impressive as it is that we managed to group up like this in such a short time, many of our territories are now weakened." He turned back to the map they were using to position troops and plan their assault. "Even should we win this fight, the battle would have only started. We may be fighting for years to restore our boarders should the other elements take advantage of our absence."

For a moment Lunix couldn't help but feel a little responsible, but she had nothing to do with this cyborg army. If anything she helped this world avoid a deadly war that could have killed thousands or more. Not that this or any future battles was a better alternative.

They were interrupted when Rebecca lead two of her subordinates into the tent. They were carrying in a holo emitter and stand. The major didn't know what to make of it. "Major this will help us plan our attack a lot better." Lunix stated and walked over to help set it up. "Can you get us a detailed scan on the fortress Rebecca?" The older woman smiled, "Of course, they don't even have shielded walls, I was able to get a detailed look even if I were falling through the atmosphere." She switched it on and the tent filled with a map of the criminal fortress.

"Incredible! It even showing the people inside!" Lunix didn't even think the Major could be surprised like this. "Yes like i said they have no shielding. With out filtering we could even see the insects and vermin that likely infest the place. This is real time by the way, my other pilot is performing this scan now but we do have about a days worth of old footage if you want to review their patrols and other activities."

Rebecca manipulated the holo and brought up a building that had exceptional amount of guards and weapon emplacements. "As you can see, this is where most of the cybernetic enhancements are done, there are other locations but this is the most busy one. I'm guessing this Kieth we are looking for is here." Lunix looked over the building interior, "Then if the Major doesn't mind we will hit this location while his forces battle it out with the criminal army and try to take the fortress?" The Major thought about it then nodded, "Very well, it wouldn't be one of our top priority targets anyway."

"Good, then..." Rebecca zoomed out from the building and brought up a highlighted path. "this will be our entry point, I highly suggest you don't have any of you forces there before we move in. The opening we create won't leave much in its wake. Feel free to use it afterward though."

"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity

The next morning, with the rising sun at their backs, the major got his first look at a Systems Alliance Vanguard and he couldn't help but smile. *Maybe this isn't as suicidal as i first thought it would be.* He thought. Rebecca slid a magazine into her Vanguard's 180mm Assault Cannon loaded with explosive shells, and took aim. It had been decided that if they were going to be involved they may as well be used to their full advantage, so at other entry points Rebecca's subtenants were mimicking her.

"Better plug your ears..." Rebecca's voice came from the vanguard like it was a living thing. She made a final adjustment and fired. The shock wave from the blast was unlike anything the Major had felt before, the largest weapon the military fielded was a 60mm cannon and it didn't even come close to this. Echos from other shots were added by the other ExoShells and half a moment later the shells buried themselves into the walls of the criminal fortress then exploded with such force that the shock wave leveled buildings behind the wall as well and literally shattering the wall itself like a glass pane. Three more shots were fired and four more holes in the walls were opened up, then the trumpets of the military sounded and they charged toward the fortress from their hiding spots.

Lunix, San'dara as well as two of their droids had snuck up closer to the wall earlier and after the first shot made a dead run for the opening, using the dust from the blast as cover for their infiltration. The droids took point, finishing off any survivors from Rebecca's attack and leading the way through back alleys to their intended target location. The droids made quick work of any opposition they came across, cyborg or not. Which was admittingly best as both Lunix and San'darra weren't the most capable fighters in situations like this despite their past experiences. While the droids were very capable in a combat zone like this, there is no telling what forms of security may be in place protecting the cyborg "factory" so Lunix went along and San'darra didn't want her to go alone so there she was as well.

The military was nearing the walls when the shock of the surprise attack wore off from the criminals inside and started to open fire on the approaching military. Larger weapon emplacements within the fortress were picked off quickly by Rebecca and the other ExoShell pilots. Despite this the military was clearly having issues with the army of cyborgs. Their best counter for them being their tanks but those were too few in number to help.

"Boys, they need more help then this. Set your Exo's to auto and lets join them on the front."

The three other ExoShell pilots sent their confirmation signals and followed orders.

"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity

Being cyborgs of a sort on their own, Rebecca and the three other ExoShell pilots were more then a match for the criminal cyborg army. faster and stronger they easily dispatched a number of the criminals on their own before they were targeted as primary targets. At that point they already joined up with the military and worked together to push further into the fortress.

At the cyborg complex Lunix sliced into the security system and quickly brought it down silently. San, standing watch as Lunix worked, got a little worried that this was going too easy. But with the planet's military and Rebecca's team assaulting the fortress from four directions the occupants likely were just sending all they had to beat them back. Lunix and San weren't likely to come across anything more till they tried to make their escape, at least that is what San was hoping.

"System is down, breech the doors." Lunix ordered and one of the droids complied. Its hands flipped away and were replaced with large hooked wedges. The droid rammed them into the blast door's seam and started to split it open. To the surprise of both the girls blaster fire poured out from the opening. The droid took a few hits witch staggered it for a moment. The girls fired blindly into the breech from cover. The droid recovered and started to pry the door open again, this time violently. It spread the door open more then kicked and and thrashed at it. The thick slabs of metal actually bent and gave way to the droid's assault. It didn't last long though as the droid caught more blaster fire and crumpled to the ground with deep craters in its torso.

The second droid worked fast catching the lower slab of door under foot and the top portion with its right hand. With its left it grabbed its dead counter part and unceremoniously jammed its corps into the door's mechanisms. Lunix and San covered it as best they could but this droid took damage as well, though minor. Free to return fire the droid unleashed its full fire power down the darkened hall, micro missiles, blaster fire and a grenade ended the threat from inside. The droid signaled that it was clear and lead the way in.

Lunix looked at the blaster cannon that was firing at them, it was a defense turret typically used on assault landers to protect the ship from enemy infantry. It had been jury rigged with a targeting computer and its own power supply, likely set to fire at anything that was in front of it. She yanked the power cable and blasted the weapon again, just to be sure it couldn't be used again and move in further with the others. There was only one check point before they reached the surgery labs where the cyborgs were made.

Both Lunix and San had to divert their eyes or they risked losing the contents of their stomachs. Many of the labs seemed to hold nothing but failed experiments or gore from someone or something that was being made into a cyborg. So far they didn't come across anyone alive. Past the surgery labs they found where the cybernetics were made, it was a dirty machine show full of machinery and junk. Looking around San accidentally knocked over a cybernetic arm, the sound of it clattering on the floor echoing.

"Who's there?!" The girls and droid raised their weapons in the direction of the voice. Not seeing anyone they moved toward where they heard the voice. "Look... I know there is a battle out there, I can see it from the video feed from the implants in the soldiers. Are you with the military? I won't make excuses for what I did here, but things have long started to get out of hand with these people. They won't even let me out of this building anymore!" The girls followed the voice into another hall which were filled with cells. "I can send a shut down signal that will disable them, I just need to get to the main lab... And if you work for that bastard Guie, then frell you!"

Lunix peeked into the cell where the voice was coming from. The man inside seemed to be unarmed so she took a chance and stepped in plain view. The man's eyes went wide in surprise, "Now i didn't expect to see someone like you... Your not from this planet, and from the look of your garb you aren't a bounty hunter. You must be Military or part of a well funded merc group... What do you want?"

Lunix scanned the man, a holo of the scan coming up from her arm datapad. The scan was compared to her father's older records of Dr. Keith and a match was confirmed. "Dr. Keith... You knew my father?"

"Father...?" Lunix changed the holo to show a image of Slade, and the man stood up suddenly and rushed to the bars of the cell. "Him?!" He looked at Lunix again then saw San and looked her over. He looked back to Lunix and nodded. "Yeah I knew him, He got me out from the Empire..."

"And as the only payment he asked for was for a favor from you in the future." San added.

Keith smiled, "Damn, I nearly forgot about that guy and now the favor I owe him and his kids save me from another fine mess I gotten myself into. Fate must have a hand in this or that's just my luck..."

"Will you make good on what you promised...?" San asked. Kieth nodded, "Of course, never back down on my word before... Well not on purpose anyway."

"Ok." Lunix motioned to the Droid, who came up to the bars and pulled them open like they were made out of dough. "Now, did you say you can shut down the cybernetics in the cyborgs?" Keith came through the bars and his smell hit the girls like a hard slap in the face. He saw their faces of disgust and backed away some. "Sorry, like i said before, they kept me locked up most of the time... And yes, a little something I secretly placed in their programming when they started to treat me like this. Won't kill them but it will disable weapons and cybernetic limbs or any strength enhances they have."

"Then lets go."

"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity

Time seemed to slow for Rebecca, this was nothing new to her. Her thoughts and senses were keener and "faster" when she concentrated on it, literally something she could turn on and off. Though while she was out of her ExoShell it was duller then normal it still out paced any on the battle field now. Her body's genetic enhancements and cybernetics allowed it to keep up making her like a god among mortals, a thought she relished in now and again, but never allowed herself to fully believe it. Armed with a pair of SMGs she ran through the masses of allied and hostile troops putting electrically fired slugs into limbs, heads hearts or the enemy. Once in a while there would be a criminal cyborg that could keep up with her, but it would always end the same way. Rebecca would block or dodge the attack, brake the limb then snap a neck. If anyone on the planet knew what a Jedi was, or rather a Sith/Dark Jedi, they could easily compare her skills/unnatural abilities with them.

But even despite how strong or powerful a Shorapka pilot is, just like a Jedi or Sith, mistakes can be made or unforeseen dangers can still get the better of them and with out even knowing it they die. One of Rebecca's pilots met his end when he got to far into the enemy lines and one of the military's mortars rained tungsten needles down on him. Rebecca and the other pilots didn't feel his death like a Jedi or Sith might have, rather a life monitoring system they shared told them. Rebecca, furious at losing a comrade in what amounted as a pointless battle for her and her men, leaped high onto a destroyed building to get a better view of the battle field. She slapped her SMGs onto her thighs where they remained and reached into her pocket and pulled out a purple Tekk crystal.

Its effects were instant the moment she started focusing on it. An enemy sniper fired a perfectly aimed shot at her head, but her psychic barrier enhanced with the Tekk crystal easily deflected it. She focused on groups of cyborgs and lifted them into the air. Their confusion turn to terror and pain when their cybernetic limbs and parts were crushed. Rebecca let them fall then turn her attention to another group. She forced her will onto them and they all took aim at each other and fired. Some one must have noticed what was going on and linked it to her because a building full of hostiles opened fire on her. Her barrier held up to the onslaught and she turned her attention to them, a huge ball of pure force quickly formed above her, so compact and powerful that it was visible to the naked eye. The hostiles in the building leaped from windows to their death to escape what they knew was coming. Rebecca telepathically launched the ball, when it struck the building all the condensed force was unleashed and the building and everything behind it simply didn't exist anymore.

Those in the area remaining after Rebecca's attacks laid down their arms and surrendered to the military, but fighting was still being conducted around other areas of the fortress. Rebecca took a moment to rest and was about to join the fight again when the enemy troops all fell over or cried out in pain, their cybernetics and weapons weren't operating, and just like that the war was over.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lunix, San'dara and Keith met up with Rebecca and her pilots. Lunix and San looked about as bad as Rebecca and her crew which in some horrible way made Rebecca feel better. She pushed herself off her Vanguard and landed from over20 meter with no issues. "So is this him? Was he worth it?" Before Lunix could say anything Keith stepped forward, "Am I worth it? Look around you. Without advance technology, without proper aids or fellow doctors, despite my being treated the way I was. I created this army of degenerates! An army that without outside help this motley military would have fallen to!"

"I wouldn't be so proud of that Dr... If what you say is true then you're in a great deal of trouble..." Major along with other commanders of the military and a couple of troopers came walking up. Lunix stepped between Keith and Major, "Look at him Major... Did you listen to what he said objectively or are you still pumped up from all the fighting reacting only on you emotions?" The Major's look softened slightly and he took a good look at at Keith. He was clearly mistreated and underfed. "So you were a captive... That doesn't change the fact that you created all this."

"Under duress Major..." The Major interrupted him, "You could have said no! You could have sabotage them or something!" Keith calmly turned and pointed out the many captive cyborgs. "Who do you think shut them down Major?" Major's fury seemed to drain away and he let out a sigh. "Fine... Your free to leave." Even Lunix was surprised by that statement. "You don't want to question him at all about what was happening here?" Major looked at her, "If he truly was just a captive I doubt her has any real information about their plans..." He turned back to Keith, "Right?" Keith simply nodded. "And besides, thanks to that shut down trick of his we practically captured all the leaders here."

San looked out at all the cyborg captives. "What about them? Don't you want Keith around to undo the cybernetics?" Keith shook his head and looked at San and the others. "For people who want me to help their father so bad you seem really keen to hand me over to this military..." San's eyes went wide in surprise, "I didn't mean... I'm sorry, I was just curious..." Major turned to her, "Don't be, you won't like whats in store for this lot." San nodded solemnly. There was a moment of silence which Rebecca broke, "Fine then, lets head back to the Titan and get to work. We have a very sick man to resurrect."

"This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then... explode."
--Serenity